Kingdom of Heaven Ultimate Edition BD (Czech Republic)

[Stephen_Campbell]

So the new Kingdom of Heaven Ultimate edition Blu-ray is Region A locked. Bugger! According to Blu-ray.com, the only none Region A version is one released in the Czech Republic. I've found it no problem, but different sites are giving conflicting information on whether or not there is an English audio track. Some sites say there is, some say, the film has been dubbed in Czech and there is no English audio at all.

You can find some information here:

http://www.film-game.cz/kralovstvi-nebe ... 32255.html, http://www.filmarena.cz/blu-ray-kralovs ... vana-edice

but, as I say, the info is a little contradictory, especially when working from Google translate!!!

Anyone able to confirm or deny anything regarding available languages?

Thanks.

[Alister_Manson]

Disc 1:
- three cuts (Theatrical + Director's Cut + Roadshow Version)
- audio (at Theatrical; other versions English only): English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1. DD, Russian 5.1 DTS, Mandarin 5.1 DD, Czech 5.1 DD, Hungarian 5.1 DD, Polish 5.1 DD VO, Thai 5.1 DD, Turkish 5.1 DD
- subtitles: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Bulgarian, Mandarin, Croatian, Czech, Arabic, Greek, Cantonese, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Hebrew, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish


Got that from the Bluray.com forum. Apparently it's quite a limited release so good luck finding one.. I can pretty much guarantee this will be released in most territories before long so I would advise to just wait for a release in the UK.

[Jari_Kovalainen]

Yes, this will be released everywhere, I'm pretty sure about that.

[Stephen_Campbell]

Yeah, you're probably right. I wanted to get it for my mum for Christmas, but I might just hang on. Not sure what she'd make of me handing her a Czech Blu-ray!!

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

Good that the Czech release will have all the cuts.

Japan is getting shafted with the 10th anniversary set.
Fox Japan has stated they are just repackaging the old disc with the bonus blu-ray disc.
So no commentaries, no alternate theatrical or roadshow cuts. Only the Director's cut in the old MPEG-2 encoding.

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

Only the Director's cut in the old MPEG-2 encoding.

Mine DC is in AVC.

[Stephen_Campbell]

Wonder how long it'll take to get the UK version out. I remember when the Definitive Director's Edition of Last of the Mohicans came out, I waited about six months, and with still no sign of it, I bought the Region A locked version. The Region B version came out eventually, but it was well over a year later.

While we're on the subject, I'm sure this has been asked time and again in various places but why oh why do Criterion lock their Blu-rays. They would increase their sales SO much more if their stuff was Region free. I nearly wet myself when I saw the Qatsi trilogy was coming to Blu-ray in a special box set, and then I saw it was Criterion. So I can't watch the damn thing except on my computer. And you don't want to be watching the Qatsi movies on a 15 inch monitor with stereo sound! Do they have any particular reason for it?

[Alister_Manson]

Most computers can be output to a TV screen, either through HDMI or VGA. Have you looked into that?

[Samuel_Scott]

Do they have any particular reason for it?

They are forced to do it in most cases. Licensor's sell the film to different territories and can get more money and protect the market by making sure companies region lock their discs.

[Alister_Manson]

I still need to get hold of a disc that's locked to Region A so I can determine whether my BD player is fully region free or if it's only unlocked for DVDs. I ordered a cheap BD of Ip Man from Hong Kong to test but it ended up region free

[Jim_Mcdonaugh]

so I can determine whether my BD player is fully region free or if it's only unlocked for DVDs

tell me your model, I'll try to help with unlocking, if it's possible

[Stephen_Campbell]

Yeah, Alister, I could output the picture through a HDMI cable from my laptop to my TV no problem. The problem would be sound. I have all my gear (Sky box, PS3, DVD player and VCR...yep, I still have a VHS player. Can't get rid of it. I need it for watching Michael Mann's The Keep!) running through an external amp, but I'd have no way of getting the sound from the laptop to my amp. It's nothing I can't live with. So far, nothing that I must own has come out on a Region A locked Blu-ray that is completely unavailable on Region B. My all time favourite film is The Thin Red Line for example. That's available in the Criterion Collection. So what I did was just buy the Criterion DVD (my DVD player is multiregion hacked) and the French special edition Blu-ray which has the same transfer. It costs me a bit more in the long run, but it's rare I'd double dip like that, only for films I love.

[Alister_Manson]

Damn, seems a bit pointless to have an HDMI output if it doesn't carry sound.. I though that was half the point of HDMI, having everything carried by one cable! So you can't even run a cable from the earphone plug to the stereo line-in on the amp?

[Stephen_Campbell]

Oh man. I am SUCH a jackass! I don't believe it.

HDMI does carry sound, but my problem was that my TV itself wasn't actually hooked up to the amp. Instead, I had all the peripherals connected; my PS3 and Skybox via audio optical cables and my DVD player via a digital co-axial. I always thought there was no way to connect the TV to the amp, but it didn't bother me because I don't use the TV to look at anything that isn't coming from an external source. I look on the back of the TV, and there's an output for an audio optical cable. I still have two free audio optical inputs on my amp. I just checked a Region A Blu-ray by hooking my laptop to the TV via a HDMI and the TV to the amp via an audio optical, turned the sound off on the laptop and my TV speakers and turned on the amp. And it works perfectly. Crystal clear picture, full DTS sound. Man alive, I cannot believe I've been this dumb. I've only had the TV for about six months, but still.

Alister. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say you are the greatest man who ever lived!

[Alister_Manson]

Naaah give yourself the credit there, all I did was give you a nudge in the right direction